In Times of Savage
by Lopithecus
Summary: Clark and the rest of the Justice League besides Bruce, are thrust into a changed time when Vandal Savage goes into the past and changes it. However, to Clark's dismay, the Batman of this time isn't like the Batman of their time.
**In Times of Savage**

 **A/N: A request by Queenofshire405 over on AO3.**

Clark presses the com-link in the Javelin as Green Lantern flies towards the Watchtower. The team minus Batman are coming back from a mission in deep space and had run out of fuel for the engines a while ago. At that point, John had offered to carry the Javelin back to the Watchtower using his ring. With no other way to get back, everyone had agreed. "Javelin Seven to Watchtower, come in."

"Watchtower here," Batman's voice comes through the speaker and Clark has to hold back a smile at hearing Bruce's disguised voice that he uses as Batman.

"Prepare the landing bay, we're coming in," he tells him.

"Just when I was starting to enjoy the peace and quiet," Bruce teases and this time Clark has to smile.

He closes the line, feeling the warmth in his chest that he has long associated with Bruce forming. "Same old Bats."

Suddenly, as they near the Watchtower, there is a bright explosion down on Earth. "Great Hera," Wonder Woman exclaims as everyone is jostled around. They are flung from their seats, each of them hitting against something. It doesn't last long before the shaking stops. When they right themselves back up, Diana asks to no one in particular, "What was that?"

Clark looks out the window and a feeling of panic clutches at his chest. "I don't know, but look." He points to out in space where the Watchtower should be but the whole spaceship is gone as if it had never existed in the first place. Clark rushes up to the console and presses the com-link once again. "Batman, come in, do you read me?" There's no response. "Batman?" Still there's no response and Clark tries to not let his worry and panic show.

"He's gone," J'onn says and Clark is sure the Martian can tell how anxious he is. "And so is the Watchtower."

Clark swallows hard, trying to mask his panic by taking charge like everyone expects Superman to do. "That light came from on Earth. We should probably go and investigate."

"What about Bats?" The Flash asks.

"Finding out what that light was from might explain what happened to the Watchtower and Batman," John says into the com-link. No one says anything against this so he starts the decent.

As John flies the Javelin down to Earth, The Flash continues the conversation. "I don't get it, there was no wreckage, no debris, zippo."

"How can the entire Watchtower disappear without a trace," Wonder Woman asks.

"Perhaps we will find the answer when we locate the source of that mysterious pulse," J'onn adds as he studies the screen of an inferred image. Clark stays silent, continuing to keep his panic in order, trying to keep the thought of _Bruce is dead_ out of his head.

When they finally land and walk out of the Javelin, there is clearly something that isn't right. There are red flags with weird symbols everywhere they turn and no people whatsoever. It's eerily quiet. "Where the heck are we?" Flash asks.

Clark looks around, walking past Flash to get a better look around. He has a bad feeling about this place but despite the differences there's also vast similarities. Clark then sees the _Daily Planet_ building and has to stop himself from gasping in surprise. There's no way this is Metropolis, is it? "It looks like we're home," he says, almost in a daze.

The group of them start to journey away from the Javelin, trying to find where that light came from. They mostly follow J'onn since he's the one with information of where exactly it is. They are stopped on a bridge, watching a train speed by as they talk about where they are and who this "leader" is, when they are ambushed by two people that Clark can only assume are police officers. They question them and ask for identification and when they don't give it, one of the officers takes out a pair of handcuffs to place on Flash. Hawkgirl steps in at that time and unfortunately for the police officer, he touches and pushes her away which earns him getting thrown into a wooden bench.

Seeing this, the second officer backs up away from Hawkgirl and calls for backup, shooting some kind of flares into the sky to show their position. He then starts to shoot at them, the second officer that was thrown by Hawkgirl joining soon after. John puts a shield around all of them but it doesn't take long for backup to arrive in planes.

"Scatter," John yells as he takes away the shield and the group does exactly that.

Clark flies up and punches one of the planes, taking it out at the same time Hawkgirl takes out another one. It doesn't help much, however, as they see in the distance thirteen more planes coming in to help.

Suddenly, there's a voice that Clark recognizes and his heart beats a tad bit faster at hearing it, soothing his worries a little. "Over here!" The Flash questions who it is but the man doesn't answer and instead says, "Hurry," and waves them on to follow him. They do and Batman, _Bruce_ , jumps down into a manhole and Clark has to try very hard to ignore his beating heart because _Bruce is alive!_ They follow him down the manhole, Clark being the last to enter, and into some kind of subway train car. They're not safe for long though as more soldiers run down the subway stairs and start shooting at the car. "Hang on!"

Bruce starts the car and the speed in which it starts to move knocks everyone back except for Clark and John. Clark watches his friend who really isn't his friend, not in this time at least, work the subway car. He wants to say something, anything, but he's not sure what that should be. Soon enough they start to head for a boarded up dead end and everyone gapes at the impending crash but then it opens up into a tunnel and really, Clark should have expected that. After all, this is still Batman despite him really not being Batman.

When they come to a stop, they all follow Bruce out of the car. "This is just too weird, even for him," Flash says and before Clark can stop him, he speeds up to the Not-Really-Batman-Batman, touching his shoulder. "Hey wait up, I've got some questions."

People, dressed similarly as Bruce, pop up from all over, pointing guns at them. "No," Not-Really-Batman-Batman begins and turns around. "I'll ask the questions. Who are you?"

"Bat's you're starting to scare me." If this situation wasn't so dire, Clark would have laughed at Flash saying that because when does Batman _not_ scare him?

They can't see Bruce's eyes but by the way he advances on Flash, Clark is sure he's glaring pretty hard. This doesn't feel right even though Clark knows their Batman would do the same thing. "I scare a lot of people." He straightens, changing his tone. "The Resistance might be able to use you but you're going to have to prove that we can trust you."

"Are you kidding?" John asks, stepping forward. "You've known us for years."

Clark looks to the floor at John saying that, feeling a stinging in his chest. He's known Bruce longer than any of them and somehow that feels more important than how long Bruce has known the rest of them.

When Not-Really-Batman-Batman grabs the gun out of one of the other soldier's hands, _that's_ when Clark definitely knows this isn't his Bruce. "You must have me confused with someone else." The stinging in his chest intensifies at Not-Bruce's words.

"I don't think he's kidding," Flash says and Clark knows all of them are just as shocked as he is at Not-Really-Batman-Batman pointing a _gun_ at them.

Stealing himself and burying his feelings way down, Clark speeds up to him and grabs the gun out of his hands, crushing it. "Listen, if we wanted to hurt you, we would have." He gives Not-Bruce his best glare but he's never really been that good at it and he's no where's near as good as Bruce and his glare.

A second passes of mutual glaring and then Not-Bruce holds up a hand, stopping his people from pointing the guns. Clark hands the gun he took back and when Not-Really-Batman-Batman takes it, he looks at it in hidden amazement. Clark can see the hidden emotion though, just like he always could with their Bruce. "Let's talk." Not-Bruce leads them over to the Not-Bat-Computer or maybe Clark should consider it the Bat-Computer still since at least _this_ still looks the same and does the same thing as it always has. "The Stormtroopers came to our house; I was eight years old."

"When they murdered your parents," Clark finishes for him, saddened by the fact that this Bruce had the same fate as their own Bruce. "Why?"

"For speaking out against the regime," Not-Bruce says.

"Incredible." Clark says it as a way of expressing his shock that both Bruce's had their parents killed when they were eight. That's something he wasn't expecting.

Not-Really-Batman-Batman takes it another way, however. "Not really." He spins his chair to face them. "It happens every day. That's why I started the resistance." Not-Bruce gets up and goes to stand in front of Clark. They stare at each other for a good second before Not-Bruce continues. "We're all outsiders, fighting the good fight."

"How long has this regime been in power?" John asks.

"Since World War Two." They all turn to Not-Really-Batman-Batman in surprise.

"But we won that war didn't we?" Flash asks, sounding unsure of himself and as if he can't believe what he is hearing.

"No." Not-Really-Batman-Batman turns and heads back to the computer, pressing a button. "They did." A picture comes up, similar to that of Nazis but also not Nazis as the symbol is wrong.

"You're telling us we lost World War Two?" John sounds angry and disbelieving. Clark is beginning to think this is all too much. "That's insane! The allies invaded Europe on D-Day and-"

"It was a disaster," Not-Really-Batman-Batman interrupts. "D-Day was the beginning of the end for the allies."

John looks on in shock as the rest of the League does the same. "I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"Something has obviously happened to the time space continuum," J'onn inputs.

Clark somehow finds his voice, peeling his eyes away from the back of Not-Bruce's head. "Probably caused by the disturbance we saw."

Diana asks, "Why weren't we affected?"

"Perhaps the aura from Green Lantern's ring protected us," J'onn says.

Not-Bruce approaches Clark again and he's taken a little aback as this is the second time this has happened. Not-Bruce doesn't address anyone else but Clark and Clark can't help but wonder if somehow, like in their own time, if they share some sort of connection here as well. The thought makes Clark's heart warm up and sting at the same time. "Want to share?"

Once again, Clark buries his feelings and answers Not-Really-Batman-Batman's question by asking his own. "Have you detected any large electrical or magnetic disturbances recently?"

Not-Bruce's head is tilted slightly, something that Clark has only seen his Bruce do to him. It makes Clark wonder why this Bruce is doing it now as it surely doesn't mean the same thing as their Bruce's. "We experienced some interference on our com-links, why?"

They explain it to him and after Not-Really-Batman-Batman tells them that he might know where this disturbance originated from. John asks for them to be brought to it but Not-Bruce won't bring them, not until they've all rested some. He then leaves, allowing them to do whatever they want within the compounds of the underground bunker.

Clark immediately goes searching for Not-Bruce and finds him with his x-ray vision in a room that almost looks like an office. He knocks on the door and enters when prompted, shutting the door tightly behind him. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" Not-Bruce looks up from the paper work he was studying. Experience from his own Bruce tells Clark that that is his prompt to continue. "You're Bruce Wayne, right?"

It takes a while from Not-Bruce to respond but when he does, he does so by removing his helmet. He's just as beautiful as his own Bruce. "How did you know?"

"We have a Batman in our own time and I'm…" Clark looks to the floor, feeling embarrassed for some reason. Not-Bruce tilts his head again and it causes Clark to flush red. It's too much like his own Bruce as Bruce does that same thing when he's feeling flirty. "It's just… I know who he is and everything."

Not-Bruce's lips are curled up slightly and he approaches Clark, standing very close. "And what's your name?"

"C-Clark Kent, uh, or Kal, Kal-El I mean." Not-Bruce's smile is full blown now and he's leaning into Clark. "Uh, I'm actually dating Bruce!" Clark says quickly, the words coming out like a squeak. His cheeks turn even more red.

Not-Bruce backs up slightly then. "I see…" Suddenly his lips are attached to Clark's and for a brief second, Clark responds to them, forgetting about _who_ exactly he is kissing.

He gently pushes Not-Bruce away. "I'm sorry," he says even though Not-Bruce doesn't look annoyed, angry, or even hurt. Instead he looks amused and understanding. "I can't… I… it'll… I mean, even though you're technically him you're still…" He sighs. " _Not_ him."

Not-Bruce smiles and steps away with a shrug, rounding his desk so it is between them. He then sighs. "It was worth a try." He looks up from his papers. "I can see why my other version would date you, you're pretty hot."

Clark gives him a small smile. "It's a bit more than that. I've known him for many years." Not-Bruce doesn't say anything to this and instead just continues to stare at him. "You don't have… another Clark Kent here?"

Not-Bruce shakes his head. "No, probably because you were unchanged by the disturbance so there can't be another you."

"Makes sense I suppose." Clark shrugs and gives him a mischievous smile. "Though I suspect that if there was, we would still be together if this attraction right now is any indication."

Not-Bruce laughs, _actually laughs_ , sounding happy and delighted. "Probably." When the laughter dies down, he looks into Clark's eyes. "Don't worry Clark, you'll make it back and your Bruce will be fine." Clark just answers with a smile. "Come on, I'll show you where the disturbance is now." He puts his helmet back on and walks past Clark in order to exit the room. Clark follows behind.

Not-Really-Batman-Batman brings them to an alleyway looking out to a building. That's where Not-Bruce explains who Vandal Savage is and what he has done. They infiltrate the building quickly, fighting off all the people within that are taking care of the thing that caused the disturbance. When everyone is taken care of J'onn calls them all over.

"What is that?" Clark asks, approaching where J'onn is standing.

J'onn answers. "Heavy matter, like a black hole. They used it as a tunnel into the past."

"And altered history to change the outcome of the war," Hawkgirl adds.

"Can we change it back?" Flash asks.

"It would be risky," J'onn starts. "We only have forty-eight hours before it collapses."

Clark feels like saying something around the lines of, of course, they have a time limit, when do they don't, but John beats him to speaking. "We've got to try."

"Wait." They all turn to Not-Really-Batman-Batman. "Are you saying that my world, my whole life, is like this because someone went back in time and changed the past?"

Clark's heart starts that stinging feeling again. "That appears to be the case," J'onn says.

"Then doing this could save my parents." Clark's heart is ripped out of his chest and stomped on a million times over.

He looks at Not-Bruce with sympathy, not really wanting to answer but having to since he's the only one who knows the answer to that question. He goes for ambiguity. "I can't promise that," he says, trying to keep the emotions out of his voice but even to him he can hear how sorry he is. Not-Bruce gives him a look that tells Clark that he understands, that he understands that no, this won't save them at all.

"Will you come with us?" Hawkgirl asks.

The answer from Not-Really-Batman-Batman is immediate. "No, if this doesn't work someone's got to stay here and fight."

J'onn then approaches him. "You understand that if we do change the past, you, this version of you will never had existed?"

Not-Bruce glances towards Clark and gives him a smile that is only visible to him. He then looks back to J'onn. "Nothing would make me happier." He glances to Clark one more time. "Now go."

Clark follows the others to the black hole but before jumping in he looks back. He gives Not-Bruce a returning smile and then jumps into the portal.

They return home just in time to see the portal collapse in on itself in a bright, blinding light. They all look on in amazement and sigh a relief when it's over. It's The Flash that speaks first. "Home sweet home… I hope."

"I should have known you'd be here." Just like with Not-Bruce, Clark's heart speeds up in his chest at the sound of that voice. They all look over to where it came from and out from the shadows, walks out Batman, _their Batman_. "The instruments in the Watchtower picked up this anomaly a few hours ago."

Clark can feel how happy the others are at seeing Batman but Clark is too caught up in his own joy to really care. He smiles wide and jogs up to him, calling out. "Batman!" He's lucky he didn't say Bruce like he wanted to but he's not _that_ distracted by his heart pounding in his chest and by how _happy_ he feels to make such a stupid mistake. He grabs a hold of Bruce and pulls him into a hug, locking eyes with him and just staring. Clark wishes Bruce would put the white lenses up so he can look at how blue Bruce's eyes are. "It's really you!"

Clark can feel how stiff Bruce is, probably because he's hugging him in front of everyone, but Clark can't be bothered to let go just quite yet. "Am I missing something?" Bruce asks after a second.

Clark clears his throat and let's go. "Sorry… it's just that…" Clark looks at Bruce fondly, struggling to hide his emotions and adoration from the others. "Well it's a long story."

Luckily, Hawkgirl saves him from any more embarrassment. "You're not going to believe what we've been through."

"Try me," Bruce says and they all leave the room to head to the Watchtower.

Later, Clark finds Bruce in his quarters up on the Watchtower. "I'm sorry for hugging you in front of everyone."

Bruce looks up from what he was doing on his laptop. He has the suit still on but the cowl down. "It's fine." He then pats the bed. "Sit with me."

Clark does, taking his cape off and placing it off to the side. "The other Batman, well he kissed me you know."

"Did he now?" Bruce says, no longer looking at him but at his laptop screen.

"Yeah, but I stopped him. It just didn't feel right because he looked like you and sort of acted like you but… there was a lot of differences too," Clark explains. "I missed the real you the whole time to be honest."

That causes Bruce to finally look up. He studies the side of Clark's face before closing his laptop and setting it on a nightstand. He inches closer until he is pressed against Clark's side, leaning his head on Clark's shoulder. He doesn't say anything, doesn't have to. He just sits there and comforts Clark in his own silent way and Clark responds by leaning his own head atop Bruce's. Bruce grabs a hold of Clark's hand, brings it up to his lips to press a soft kiss to Clark's knuckles, before resting their hands on Bruce's lap, still entwined with each other.

Finally, Bruce says teasingly as he tilts his head," Is that considered cheating?"

Clark laughs and growls somehow at the same time, pouncing on Bruce to pin him to the bed. Bruce starts to laugh as well as Clark kisses him full on the mouth.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. :)**


End file.
